El Salvador: Saca Water Privatization Announcement Shut Down

Author: Jennifer

16 Jul

Unionists, community development activists, and residents blocked streets leading into Suchitoto to protest an announcement by President Tony Saca about a new program to decentralize public services, including water.

Saca intended to inaugurate the program, which would shift management responsibilities from the national water company, ANDA, to private municipal water companies that would be concessioned by local governments. But protesters blocked his access to the quaint town 45 kilometers northeast of San Salvador. Saca’s event was cancelled and rescheduled at the Presidential Palace, as many diplomats were unable to get to the event.

Critics of decentralization, including SETA, the union of ANDA workers, argue that municipalities lack adequate financial and technical resources to effectively manage water. They say that Saca’s plan ostensibly privatizes water, and that similar schemes implemented in other Latin American countries have led to decreases in water quality and service, and an increase in water rates.

Witnesses reported that 100 riot police from the elite UMO division guarded the entrance to local National Civil Police office in Suchitoto on Monday. Thirteen arrests were reported, including Lorena Martinez and Rosa Maria Centeno, President and Vice president of the Association for the Development of El Salvador (CRIPDES).

Arrestees were transported to two other jails before landing at the PNC sub-delegation jail at Cojutepeque. They are charged with Illicit Association and Public Disorder. The CRIPDES motorist, is charged with assaulting an officer, though footage of his arrest which was repeated shown on the nightly news here, demonstrates that he put up no resistance to officers who used an exaggerated amount of force.

“More than anything, this was a kidnapping,” said Julio Cesar Portillo, husband of the jailed Lorena Martinez. “With it, the government is sending a political message: ‘Don’t protest.’ These practices harken back to the darkest era of the National Guard.”

Portillo says that his wife was arrested without asking for her identification or any questioning. He believes that she was randomly swept up, not explicitly targeted. “It was only afterwards that they realized who she was,” he said. CRIPDES is one of the most recognized development organizations in the northern region of El Salvador.

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One Response for "El Salvador: Saca Water Privatization Announcement Shut Down"

Alicia July 24th, 2007 at 7:21 pm 1
For those of you interested on the effects of privatization on ordinary individual, especially when MNCs privatize essential infrastructure such as water, electricty, railways and health care, you should check out the new documentary “The Big Sell-Out.”

This documentary challenges current economic orthodoxy in contending that the dogmatic claims of the international business establishment for neo-liberal development policies are not supported by modern economic science. More importantly, it dramatically demonstrates how the implementation of these policies is having disastrous consequences for millions of ordinary people around the globe.

While national and international economic discourse is fixated on increasing efficiency and economic growth, The Big Sellout reminds us that there are faces behind the statistics. It raises serious questions about the neo-liberal credo that government best serves the public interest by becoming a servant to corporate interests. But brave individuals, like those showcased in this important new film, are standing up and demanding an alternative to the prevailing neo-liberal model, a model that the film shows to be as hollow as it is unsustainable.

In particular to Latin America, the films documents how citizens in Cochabamba, Bolivia (mentioned in this article) have organized enormous protests in 2000, following the decision by the Bolivian government to sell the public water company to a private corporation, which would have made water cost-prohibitive to much of the population. The Big Sellout shows how ordinary people are fighting the neo-liberal commodification of basic public goods.

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of this film, it is available from CA Newsreel at www.newsreel.org